Am International Incorporated

Addressograph Multigraph Corporation

Eber L Goodwin

James E Zeigler

Joel D Armstrong

Charles T Richards

Thomas J Borke

A sheet proofing mechanism for a printing, duplicating and like machine wherein sheets are delivered seriatim by a conveyor in a path over a receiving tray whereat the sheets drop onto a stack of sheets in the tray. Releasable gripping fingers are provided on the conveyor, and stripping fingers strip each released sheet from the conveyor and direct the sheet into the tray. A sheet proofing mechanism includes deflecting fingers spaced along the path from the stripping fingers for deflecting a released sheet from the conveyor to a proofing station. A tripping cam is provided along the path for selectively releasing the gripping fingers at a first point to allow the stripping fingers to strip the released sheet from the conveyor and at a second point to allow the deflecting fingers to deflect the released sheet to the proofing station. The machine also includes a numbering head for sequentially numbering the sheets, with an indexing lever for indexing the numbering head. The proofing mechanism includes an interrupter for preventing operation of the indexing lever whereby a given sheet will not be sequentially numbered and such that the given sheet can be selectively deflected to the proofing station without interrupting the remaining order of sequential numbering.

Copy sheet proofing system

A system for adjusting a finishing head relative to an impression cylinder in a printing, duplicating and like machine wherein copy sheets are fed through a printing couple and then to a finishing couple which includes the impression cylinder. The finishing head includes a finishing wheel for penetrating a copy sheet on the impression cylinder, and the head is mounted on a bar which is rotatably mounted between side frame plates of the machine. A preliminary adjusting mechanism is provided between the head and the bar for preliminarily adjusting the position of the finishing wheel relative to the bar. The bar is removably mounted between the side frame plates so that the preliminary adjustment can be made away from the machine. A very fine adjusting system is provided on the machine, operatively associated with the bar and including a dial on the outside of one of the side frame plates to provide fine adjustment of the finishing wheel while the machine is operating. A lateral adjusting mechanism is mounted on one of the side frame plates and is operatively associated with the bar for adjustably moving the bar longitudinally and thereby adjusting the finishing wheel axially of the impression cylinder.

Fine adjustment system of finishing head in a printing, duplicating and

An ink fountain assembly for use in duplicating machines, such as rotary offset lithographic machines. A fountain trough is defined by an elongated blade extending along one side of the trough and an ink fountain roller extending along the other side of the trough defining a gap therebetween. A plurality of independently adjustable thumb screws are provided for varying the gap and the ink flow therethrough. A plurality of caps are positionable over the thumb screws in any angular position relative thereto. The caps have indicators to facilitate calibrating the positions of adjustment of the thumb screws.

Adjustable ink fountain for duplicating machines

In a duplicating machine, a system for readily interchanging a printing head on a permanent rotatable shaft of a printing couple of the machine, to facilitate rapid changing of printed indicia in short run duplicating situations. An elongated manually manipulatable segment is readily removably mountable on the rotatable shaft. At least one ring-like mounting member is fixable to the manually manipulatable segment at any position therealong. At least one adjustable printing head is secured to the mounting member. The manually manipulatable segment can be bodily removed from the shaft and the printing head can be replaced or adjusted while the machine continues to operate.

System for readily interchanging an adjustable printing head on a

An interchangeable ink fountain system for use in duplicating machines, such as offset lithographic machines. A plurality or set of ink fountains is provided for removable mounting on either a duplicating machine or a preparation station. Complementary interengaging supports are provided on each ink fountain and each of the duplicating machine and preparation station for selectively and removably mounting an ink fountain on either the duplicating machine or the preparation station. The preparation station includes a housing and light means in the housing behind the ink fountain for directing light through the ink flow through gap of the empty fountain, whereby an operator can readily visualize the gap dimensions while adjusting the same.

Ink fountain preparation station and interchangeable ink fountain system

In a printing machine or the like wherein sheets are delivered seriatim into a receiving tray whereat the sheets come to rest by gravity onto a stack in the tray, a device for facilitating stacking the sheets into the tray at high speed. Each sheet is directed from the machine in a path outwardly over the tray. Guide surfaces act against a lead end of the sheet to prevent upward escape of the sheets from the path. A deflecting mechanism diverts each sheet downwardly into the tray to clear the path for a succeeding sheet. A stop plate is provided beneath the deflecting mechanism for acting against a trail end of each sheet to control and guide the sheet into alignment onto the stack in the tray.

Sheet stacking device

A sheet unloading device for use in a printing or duplicating machine, or the like, wherein sheets are delivered seriatim to a receiving tray whereat the sheets are deposited onto the top of a stack of sheets in the tray. An interposer mechanism is movable to an operative position at the end of the tray for dividing the tray into a first, lower portion and a second, upper portion. The interposer mechanism permits removal of the lower portion of the stack while sheets are continuously delivered to the upper portion of the stack. A back stop is provided at the end of the tray and can be selectively lowered to permit removal of the lower portion of the stack of sheets.

Sheet unloading device

A mechanism for registering sheets in a printing or duplicating machine which includes a conveyor board for delivering the sheets seriatim to the registering mechanism. A stop guide is mounted on a fixed support of the machine at one side of the conveyor board. A jogger guide is mounted on a jogger device of the machine at the opposite side of the conveyor board. The jogger guide includes a spring loaded blade for acting against a side edge of the sheet to move the sheet laterally to engage an opposite side edge of the sheet against the stop guide. The spring pressure of the blade is adjustable to accommodate sheets of varying weight, and the blade is provided with floating movement to accommodate sheets which are skewed or out-of-square. A calibrated dial is employed for incrementally adjusting the location and spring pressure of the blade. The stop guide and jogger guide are easily converted for left hand or right hand jogging, or vice versa, without removing either guide from the machine.

Sheet registering mechanism

A tandem dual-head lithographic duplicator is equipped for operation in alternative modes, i.e., either for duplexing by printing on opposite faces of the copy sheets in sequence, or for simplexing. In the simplexing mode the printing of the copy sheets is carried out on one head simultaneously with the cleanup and preparation operations on the other head, with a sequence of printing jobs being performed alternately on one printing head and then on the other while, in each case, the non-printing head is being prepared. Accordingly, substantially continuous simplexing operation can be achieved except in the case of very short printing runs.

Dual-head duplicator with alternate simplexing capability

In order to make utmost use of the time and effort of an operator, a duplication system has been devised in which first the duplicator equipment feeds the copy paper along a linear path while producing the copies, the path then turns, and the copy is fed by a direction changing means in a direction substantially normal to the original path into a sheet distributor which has its unloading apertures arranged so as to be convenient to an operator standing at an operator station beside the discharge end of the duplicator device at the operation side thereof. The distributor is of a type such that the unloading openings are exposed to operator access at or slightly above waist level, and is preferably a rotary distributor capable of moving the filled pockets to a fixed unloading position. A work surface extends from a point adjacent the sheet distributor to a point near the input end of the duplicator, and may include a power sheet jogger at its end near the distributor, and operator desk means at its other end for receipt and organization of incoming work. In a preferred form, the direction changing means and the distributor are arranged to be of a width more than double the usual sheet dimension so as to allow use of alternate halves thereof to permit, for example, unloading one-half of the distributor while the other half is being loaded by a subsequent job.

High operator efficiency duplicating system

A conveyor is provided for accepting sheets moving in one direction from a duplicator and conveying them at an angle to the initial direction; e.g., 90.degree.. The conveyor consists of rollers of relatively large diameter arranged with close spacing so that sheets of paper will pass easily from one to the other, and entering sheets will find fairly continuous support whatever their size. The rollers are set at an angle to the desired feed path to provide an effect urging the sheets towards a side alignment stop and the construction is such that the angular roller setting may be readily made during manufacture, to act towards whichever side of the feed path is selected as the one to carry the alignment stop surface. Means are provided for controlling the sheets during transfer from one conveyor to the other, and for instantaneous acceleration in the second direction by the roller conveyor, permitting handling of closely spaced sheets at high sheet frequency without danger of interference between adjacent sheets which might result in jamming.

Angular path sheet conveying

Duplicating equipment is provided for printing on both faces of the same sheet or, in the alternative, making two impressions on the same face (e.g., in different colors) by means of two printing heads. Both printing heads are served with masters from a single supply point, the masters being fed in proper order and attached to the master cylinder of the appropriate printing head automatically. In one form of the invention, the single master supply point takes the form of a single master maker and converter.

Growing community of inventors

Arlington Heights, IL, United States of America

Eber L Goodwin